One Guardian
by Miss Lilianae
Summary: (Reboot) Guardian G. Gatescholar appears before the Strawhats asking for assistance and offering some in return, what will the pirates do with this young apprentice who seems to still be finding his own way? (This is a reboot of the story using a new post to avoid any confusing reviews from the old one)
1. One Guardian

Chapter 1: One Guardian

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or any of the characters involved except for Guardian G. Gatescholar

It was a calm, clear, day on the grand line as Luffy and the straw-hat crew went about their usual tasks. The crew was scattered throughout the ship inside and on deck. Nothing seemed off until a sudden crash surprised the crew. All of the interior teams were on deck and looking into a large smoke cloud that was streaming from the floor.

"What happened?" asked Nami as she came from her room with Robin and Sanji.

"I don't know, but it must've been pretty heavy to make a crash that loud and to do that much damage," Franky said, aiming his hammer at the smoke cloud.

"Oh, did something happen?" asked Brook who was waking up from his fishing with Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper

"Yes, something happened you idiot! Something crashed through the ship!" yelled Sanji .

"Oh, well, what is it?" He asked.

"We don't know," Nami replied.

"I'm what 'it' is," A voice said from the smoke as a figure appeared.

He was a young man of about fifteen, his body was slightly pale, but most of it was covered by a large voluminous golden robe. In his right hand he carried a black book that was covered in all manner of strange symbols and designs. His hair was short, and flat against his head, but also the gold color of his robe.

"Who are you?" Robin asked.

"I am Guardian G. Gatescholar, leader of the Guardians," he replied with a bow.

"Guardians?" Robin asked.

"Yes ma'am, protector of the worlds and their inhabitants, my mission is to protect the Strawhats from any upcoming threats," Gatescholar explained.

"Thanks but no thanks, we can handle whatever comes next, we need to, otherwise we won't be able to get to the One Piece," Luffy said.

Gatescholar looked over to him and nodded, "Fine, then at least allow me to accompany you to the next island,"

"I have no problem doing that," Luffy said with a grin.

"Excellent," Gatescholar nodded and then proceeded inside the ship and began to explore.

The crew slowly returned to what they were doing before Gatescholar's sudden appearance. A few more hours passed and nothing else eventful occurred during their voyage. After a while Gatescholar asked the crew to refer to him as Gate, since his full name could be a bit of a mouthful.

During dinner Sanji noticed that Gate was still carrying his book, the black bound piece was currently laying on the table next to his plate.

"If you don't mind me asking, but what's with your book?" Sanji said, using his fork to indicate the piece of literature.

"I'm surprised you didn't ask sooner," Gate said with a small smile.

"This is my power tome," he said, as if that was enough.

He was met with blank stares before deciding to describe it further. "I am a student of the Sage arts, and this is my study piece during my apprenticeship. While I am Gatescholar, my powers are much weaker than normal Guardians, but I make up for it with versatility in my abilities. This book contains all my spells that I'll need to know to become a sage,"

The crew was beginning to understand now, some sooner than others.

"Do you know any spells off the top of your head?" Luffy asked, his eyes gleaming with interest.

Gatescholar considered it for a moment, "I do," he said.

He held up his hand, palm upward and in his left the book fluttered to a page where the letters began to glow red.

"Scholar's Art of Fire" a small flame appeared in his hand, a simple thing of red fire. He tossed it between his other now open hand, and then began to juggle it before bouncing it off walls, the ceiling, the floor, and the table. Nothing caught alight and when he was done, he balled his hand into a fist the flame went out.

"That's impressive," Sanji said nodding in approval.

"It's only the beginning of my powers, but like I said, I'm only an apprentice at this stage so I only know two spells without having to consult my book," Gate said holding up to the tome.

After his display dinner continued in the normal fashion, Luffy and some of the other crew members fighting over food while Sanji joined the fray to make sure Nami and Robin had enough. Gate caught random scraps as they flew toward him and ate those while enjoying the scene that played out before him.

After dinner everyone departed for their barracks, Gate was welcomed to the men's rooms and soon was soundly asleep with the rest of the Straw-hat men.

Around midnight he awoke and went over to one corner of the room, he produced his tome and muttered a few sayings that couldn't be heard. The book opened and began to glow dimly. Images of other beings, men and women, like Gatescholar. Showed on the book's pages, each were in a different world and among different people and beings.

"Hm, seems everything's going according to plan so far," Gate said as he shut the book.

A groaning sound alerted Gate to someone moving or waking up.

"Gate?" Chopper's voice asked softly through the darkness.

"What is it Chopper?" Gate asked calmly.

"What are you doing up?" He asked.

"Getting a glass of water is all," Gate said as he returned to his hammock.

"Alright," Chopper had lost interest in the conversation and rolled into his bed before falling asleep again.

Gate soon went as well, leaving the Thousand Sunny silent in the darkness of the night.

The next morning the crew awoke and continued their voyage. The crew asked Gate to assist in daily chores and he happily agreed. When these were completed they all went about their separate tasks. Gate was sitting on deck pouring over his tome. Luffy, Usopp, Chopper, and Brook were fishing on deck, but they were more interested in seeing what trick Gate would perform next, but nothing came of it so they went back to fishing.

The day passed uneventfully until they arrived at their next island, Saobody Archipelago.

"We're here," Nami announced to the crew.

Gate looked up from his tome and slammed it shut to join the others on deck.

"That's Saobody Archipelago then?" He asked.

Nami nodded,

"I've never been there, though I have read about it," Gate replied.

The crew went about the ship now, preparing the sails so the ship could coast to a stop in the ports of the town.

(At this point I'm going to say I'm skipping the flying fish riders, while I know this is important not much would change in the outcome and the combat would more or less be the same.)


	2. Saobody Archipelago

One Guardian  
Chapter 2: Saobody Archipelago

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or any of the characters involved except Guardian G. Gatescholar

A sunny day on the open sea as the Strawhats docked into the port on Saobody Archipelago. Gate and Luffy were the first to leap off the ship, landing on the wooden docks.

"What's your plan Luffy?" Gate asked him.

"I'm gonna go explore and see if I can find something cool," He said with a smile before taking off into the street.

Gate smiled to himself before taking off after him. The two sprinted through the streets until Luffy stopped at a stall, his eyes catching something interesting. Gate caught up to him and followed his gaze to the staff that was hanging above the merchant's head.

Gate's eyes widened as they changed color from their normal bright yellow to a dark red. His pupils flitted from one part of the weapon to another before they returned to their normal color.

"Sir, how much for that staff?" Gate asked him.

"More than you can afford kid," he said

"Please sir, tell me," Gate pleaded.

Luffy gave him a strange look, he'd only known Gate for a few days, but in that time he'd never seen him act like this.

"Fine, if you must know it's five-hundred thousand beli,"

Gate nodded before sprinting back toward the ship. He ran into Nami and Robin right as they were coming off the docks.

"Nami!" He shouted as he knelt over and panted heavily.

"What's wrong?" She asked with slight concern.

"I need some money," he said.

"What?"

"There's a staff, it's important, I need five-hundred thousand beli, I'll do whatever it takes," He told her.

Nami thought about it for a moment before her eyes turned into Beli symbols.

"Alright Gate, you can have the money, but you need to pay me back with interest, I think five percent per hour sounds fair,"

"Deal," Gate said as he stood up straight and looked her in the eyes.

"This staff must be really important to you," She said as she counted out a few stacks of hundreds.

Once Gate had his money he sprinted back down the street to see Luffy examining the staff. He slid to a stop in front of the merchant and flashed the money in front of him.

"Here!" he said handing it to him.

The merchant took the bills and began counting as Gate turned to Luffy.

"Luffy, let me have that for a minute," He said.

Luffy nodded and handed it to him, as Gate took the staff in his hand a noticeable difference came over him. His panting stopped and his body seemed to adjust under his robe, almost like he grew muscles.

"Well, looks like it's all here kid, the staff's yours," The merchant said off-handedly as he pocketed the money.

"Thank you sir," Gate said with a bow.

He and Luffy left the stall behind and continued down the street.

"What was that?" Luffy asked him.

"It's a long story, but basically, this staff is from my homeworld Luffy. I could sense it's power from the rack and knew I needed to bring it back with me," He said as he stopped and looked at the weapon.

"Hm, well, I guess if it's that important to you,"

"It is,"

"Well, either way, I've got some money still, so why don't we go out and enjoy some drinks!" Luffy said excitedly.

"Sure, that sounds good," Gate replied as he and Luffy resumed their walk.

The pair entered a nearby bar a few minutes later. The barkeep looked up at them and frowned at Gate.

"Sorry, no kids allowed here,"

"I'm not a kid, I'm over eighteen!" He protested.

"Prove it," The man said.

Gate thought for a moment before producing his tome and flipping through.

"Sage Arts of Scribing" He held his hand out and a piece of paper appeared. He handed it to the man who took a look.

"Fair enough, what can I get you guys?"

Luffy and Gate placed their orders and while they waited for the barkeep Luffy looked at Gate again.

"What did you make on that paper?"

"It's my ID card, it automatically translates to whatever form of ID the world I'm in uses and it adjusts to the situation I need it to, like it said my age was eighteen this time,"

"How old are you?" Luffy asked.

Gate looked up at the ceiling as he thought, "Sixteen hundred years, we Guardians live a long time,"

Luffy began to laugh as the barkeep brought their drinks.

"There's no way you're that old, you'd be an old man like my grandpa if that were true!"

Gate smiled as Luffy continued to laugh, their merrymaking wouldn't last long however as a figure burst through the bar door.

The pair turned to see a man with red hair and checkered pants walk into the bar. He was followed by another man wearing a blue helmet with six holes down the front.

"Who are they?" Luffy asked annoyed.

"'Captain', Eustace Kid, and 'Massacre Soldier' Killer," Gate answered in a serious tone. "We don't want to be here, let's go,"

Luffy stood up from his seat and approached Kid and Killer.

"Who do you think you are barging into a bar like that? You need to be more polite when you walk into a place," Luffy said as he poked at Kid's face.

Kid glared down at Luffy and knocked his hand away. "Who are you to tell me what to do?" he asked.

Gate approached at this point and shoved Luffy's head down. "I'm sorry sir, he's had too much to drink, we'll be leaving now so as to get out of your way,"

"Whatever," Kid said as he pushed past Luffy and Gate. Once they sat down Luffy looked over at Gate who nodded toward the door.

The pair left the bar and once they were outside Luffy turned to Gate angrily.

"Why did you stop me?"

"His bounty is higher than yours, there are marines all over these islands, and we're in a very precarious spot right now," Gate answered. "I've known more than I've led on. I was sent here because I need your help Luffy, and I figured if I offered you some help first you'd be more willing to give me a hand,"

"What are you talking about?"

Gate took in a deep breath before steeling himself.

"It's a long story, but all you really need to know is something bad is about to happen,"


	3. Kicking Off

One Guardian  
Chapter 3: Kicking Off

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece of any of the characters involved except Guardian G. Gatescholar

As Gate and Luffy were leaving the bar, Sanji, Nami, and Robin were wandering the market street. Sanji stopped every now and again to examine food items, while Nami seemed to gravitate toward anything that shone brightly or glowed in the sunlight. Robin was standing nearby as Nami examined a set of earrings when something caught her eye. A figure had just dipped back into an alleyway right as she began to look in its direction.

She wandered over and looked down the alley casually, but didn't see anyone. Whoever it was had taken off. Meanwhile a single marine was rushing through the next street over, weaving through the crowd of people he slid to a stop as he came up on another squad of marines.

"Sir!" he shouted.

"What is it soldier?" A young marine asked, he wore the captain's coat of the marines, a large rifled was slung onto his back and he wore a pair of goggles that were strapped over his forehead. A large scar ran down over his right eye and into his cheek.

"I have confirmed the presence of 'Devil's Child' Nico Robin, 'Burglar Cat' Nami, and a man who appears similar to 'Black Leg' Sanji in their company,"

The officer's eyes widened as he heard the report. He looked at the men surrounding him and issued a quick series of orders:

"If there are some of the straw hats here that means 'Strawhat' Luffy is nearby. Fan out, find him, and bring him into custody if you can, otherwise keep your distance and report in with the portable den-den mushis! I'm going to call command and request for reinforcements,"

"Sir!" The squad broke up and headed in different directions, fanning out to find the strawhats.

The captain meanwhile went back to their base and reached over toward the den-den mushi meant for calls to command. Dialing in the number he was quickly received by a soldier.

"Marine HQ, what's your situation?"

"This is Captain Juiren stationed at Saobody Archipelago, we have had confirmed sightings of three Strawhat crew members and are requesting assistance for their arrest,"

"Hold," The responder said.

Juiren shut his mouth and waited, a bead of sweat sliding down the side of his head.

"Your request has been approved captain. Soldiers are being deployed from nearby bases to assist in the strawhats capture. Your orders are to stand back and observe so as to avoid the strawhats escaping, is this understood?"

"Yes sir!" Juiren shouted before hanging up.

He produced a smaller den-den mushi and dialed in his squad's calling channel. One everyone had picked up he repeated the orders and got confirmation from his men. Putting away the small device he unshouldered his rifle and lowered his goggles over his eyes before taking off into the city to find the pirates.

Meanwhile, Luffy was staring at Gate with confusion. "What do you mean something's going to happen?"

Gate sighed as he lifted his hands up to help him calm down. "There's going to be a situation, the marines are going to find you because of it, and they're going to try to capture you,"

"Is that all? We can handle a few marines!" Luffy grinned as he said this.

"No Luffy, you don't underst-"

Luffy cut him off with a raised hand, "Don't worry Gate, we'll be fine. Trust me,"

Gate went to reply but realizing it was futile he closed his mouth and silently followed Luffy deeper into the city streets. As they made their way through them a particular building that looked like a circus tent caught Luffy's eye. Inside they heard a voice shouting, Gate seemed to hear it better than Luffy as he asked:

"What's going on in there?"

It sounded like an auction of some kind, Gate's eyes widened as he realized what was happening, he turned to Luffy and put on a bored face, "Nothing much, it looks like some kind of boring circus show," Gate told him.

"There's no such thing, c'mon," Luffy grabbed Gate's arm and led him inside, Gate tried to resist but Luffy's grip was like iron on his arm and he was dragged inside.

"Three-hundred thousand to the gentleman in the purple top-hat!" A voice called as they entered.

"What was that about?" Luffy asked.

The room they had entered was a large auditorium style set up. Chairs were set in rows and each row descended slightly until they arrived at a well-lit stage at the bottom. A man with a colorful outfit and a microphone was grinning as the older gentlemen next to him was led off the stage in chains.

"Gate… I thought you said this was a circus?" Luffy turned to him but he saw Gate was trembling.

"Are you ok?"

"No, we need to leave," Gate responded, there was a mix of anger and despair in his voice, like he was trying to be brave.

"What's going-"

Luffy's words were drowned out as a wave of "Ooos" and "Ahs" erupted from the betters. A woman inside a large fishbowl was brought on the stage. She wasn't a regular woman however, her legs were one large fish tail, and Luffy recognized her immediately.

"Caimie?" He asked.

Gate's trembling increased, his body was shaking violently as he clenched his tome in one hand and the staff he'd purchased in the other. His knuckles were going white from the intensity of his grip.

"We need to go Luffy," he said with fear in his voice, the front he was trying to put on was gone now.

"What is Caimie doing here?!" Luffy shouted.

"Luffy! We need to go! Now!"

Luffy turned back to see Gate was staring at him, his whole body was visibly shaking still and his eyes were wet with tears.

"Gate…?"

"Our first bid for this mermaid girl is going to start at one-hundred thousand beli!"


End file.
